Stupid Shmup Stuff You've Bought

[Jonpachi]

What are some of your biggest wastes of money that you've thrown at this hobby?

My personal top 3:
- $700 for a Muchi-Muchi Pork! pcb with a busted capacitor. I was able to fix it, but it was an insane gamble. Then the 360 port came out about 3 months later.
- $600 for a MVS>AES conversion cart (with case and manual) of Blazing Star. Was lucky enough to sell it for a bit more than I paid some years later.
- SO MUCH MONEY ON A COMPLETE SET OF IMPORT GBA SHMUPS... nearly all of which suck. Cool box for Steel Empire I guess.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Do I need to answer that question...
Oh, well, I'll put it simple: All the trash shmups I've picked for review and make fun of them (Pixicharm, Akinakes, Xitilon shmups, etc.). Latest pick: Airborne Justice, a mediocre attempt to a Twin Cobra clone.

[Creamy Goodness]

Even though they are good games, spending $90 for Ketsui and Esp Ra De is a little much especially in the case of Esp Ra De where I could've got it for half the price if I waited a bit.

I also have this t-shirt that I am never going to wear because of the anxiety of getting a white t-shirt dirty.

https://kumagumi.com/product/type-b-yoko/

[AGermanArtist]

I entered the Evercade eco-system and got straight back out again.

[MJR]

I bought a Cave iphone cover back in.. I don't even remember what year, and at what price, when Cave had their webshop!

Still got it, busted and logo barely visible, as well as the iphone, with those Cave games installed..

[Jonpachi]

Even though they are good games, spending $90 for Ketsui and Esp Ra De is a little much especially in the case of Esp Ra De where I could've got it for half the price if I waited a bit.

I also have this t-shirt that I am never going to wear because of the anxiety of getting a white t-shirt dirty.

https://kumagumi.com/product/type-b-yoko/

Welp, you just got me to drop money on that A.Tolanp hat. I need a new hat anyways.

[Creamy Goodness]

This site has dope stuff. If there is anything Toaplan related that you want that is sold out, you can likely find it on Play-Asia.

[blazinglazers69]

Red Bubble has a lot of cool shmup stuff.

[paul_]

The Gradius V Superplay DVD. Only to realize it’s just a video of a standard 1cc that I’ve achieved 15 years earlier myself. Not sure what the point of the DVD is since the game is a fairly easy shmup

[Starfighter]

I just spent $55 on what is, allegedly, a slightly better lever than the one I've already got.

[Jonpachi]

I just spent $55 on what is, allegedly, a slightly better lever than the one I've already got.

If I had a dollar for every new bushing, spring, ball-top, button...

[Sweatlord_STG]

...more than I want to remember. I mean this whole hobby is just like a black hole.

[davyK]

I've been fortunate in not being the type who gets tempted by special editions with extra tat.

I have bought the occasional expensive game but I got most of my Saturn shmups in the 00s so it wasn't too bad. Boxed and complete Bangai O for N64 was a bit of an indulgence though.

Double and triple dipping is a weakness of mine though. The Toaplan collections of late for example. But is it really that stupid?

yeah - it probably is.


But with emulation and solid state console drives being pretty easy to use, buying physical editions is also a bit silly. But it's my weakness.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

...more than I want to remember. I mean this whole hobby is just like a black hole.

The prices of PCBs and cabs have indeed become insane.
Same is true for pinball, though. Some old machines from the 90s (like Indiana Jones or Mars Attacks) easily fetch 10K on the used market.

[Sweatlord_STG]

...more than I want to remember. I mean this whole hobby is just like a black hole.

Some old machines from the 90s (like Indiana Jones or Mars Attacks) easily fetch 10K on the used market.

20K on Ebay Really, I remember seeing Indie being offered for 20.

I got most of my arcade stuff when it was a lot cheaper than now but still, for instance a few years ago I went nuts over the SS and blew unholy amounts on games that I "forgot to buy earlier" and then also in general with this hobby, what I meant with the black hole comparison is that if you already have a lot of stuff, every year at least one thing breaks and has to be replaced or repaired, plus there is always new stuff coming out, and by new stuff I'm not even talking about the Switch 2 for instance, because I absolutely don't need one (for now), but all the other "retro game scene" related improvements and new gadgets that always come out. You always need another cable here, another new cable there, new better controller for this and that platform, then it's time again to upgrade your PC or get a new one, then there's a new FPGA thing you want, then oh there is a new IPS display mod for the PSP? Cool, I'll get two of those from ebay because I don't want to do the mod myself, let's also get new charging cables because I can't find my old one right now, oh and two memory stick pro duo adapters of course, plus more micro SD cards (all small things but it's constant so it really adds up over time), then you want this and that console again because this time it's finally all digital (I mean like the whole library of games is on the console), so that means another PSX, another PS2, another Xbox, another pad hack, another rgb mod, etc, then there is a mod that finally fixes the blurry image of the SNES so yeah let's go, been waiting for this my whole life, oh another PCB broke so it needs to get repaired, oh I didn't know this game existed, didn't know that game existed, then a new Everdrive comes out, new Hamster game every week, new remaster of this and that on Steam, then you hear about something like the G'AIM'E × TIME CRISIS by Tassei Denki Co., Ltd. ... this is what I mean by black hole, because it never ends. You always think you are done for the rest of your life after that next purchase, but as soon as you watch YT or check the forums there is another new thing you want. So even if you put all the games aside (old and new), there is just always so much to buy with this hobby.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

shit man, you're absolutely right. The amount of nonsense I have bought in the last ten years is insane. Still a great hobby, though, only wish I could share it with other people more Nobody gives a shit if I finally installed the most recent CIC modchip into my SNES.

[Sweatlord_STG]

Nobody gives a shit if I finally installed the most recent CIC modchip into my SNES.

LOL yeah I'm sure a lot of us can relate to that feeling. But yes still a great hobby when you're actually playing something and everything just works

Another thing I hate is I'M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING. I'm not messy and rather organized, but it still happens all the time. E.g. I'm looking for one specific adapter that allows me to use input device X on platform Y. I know I own it, and I thought I knew where I put it, but then it takes ages to actually find it.

[davyK]

My refurbed Asteroids Deluxe Cabinet cost £2,500 (incl import tax+ delivery) about 9 years ago. That's a lot for one game. It is a bit silly and it takes up a lot of room but I love it.

[Jonpachi]

I once went to a shmup meet and got to visit the home of a fellow shmupper. We entered, and he took me to an unfurnished guest bedroom where he had about 10k worth of rare pcbs and console games all laid in rows right on the carpet. "All my money..." he said.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

I don't even know why, but that's hilarious
did he say it in a sad voice?

[Marc]

I entered the Evercade eco-system and got straight back out again.

Same, I had pretty much everything up until the beginning of this year, but when the new arcade carts were announced as more stuff I mostly had on Switch......

[Jonpachi]

I don't even know why, but that's hilarious
did he say it in a sad voice?

More like resigned to his fate. I remember someone had brought a Progear PCB and he told me, "If you play it you'll want to buy it. Just be warned."

He was right. I would spend a LOT of money on Progear not long after that.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

I don't even know why, but that's hilarious
did he say it in a sad voice?

More like resigned to his fate. I remember someone had brought a Progear PCB and he told me, "If you play it you'll want to buy it. Just be warned."

He was right. I would spend a LOT of money on Progear not long after that.

hoch much is a lot

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

I entered the Evercade eco-system and got straight back out again.

Same, I had pretty much everything up until the beginning of this year, but when the new arcade carts were announced as more stuff I mostly had on Switch......

I'm definitely starving for interesting new arcade titles already. I mean I will keep playing Donut Dodo and Batsugun, but apart from Shocktroopers on the NG1 cart there isn't much I really want to play left to buy.

[Jonpachi]

I don't even know why, but that's hilarious
did he say it in a sad voice?

More like resigned to his fate. I remember someone had brought a Progear PCB and he told me, "If you play it you'll want to buy it. Just be warned."

He was right. I would spend a LOT of money on Progear not long after that.

how much is a lot?

I spent $350 on what turned out to be a bootleg, then another $700 to get a real one.

[hamfighterx]

I bought a Cave iphone cover back in.. I don't even remember what year, and at what price, when Cave had their webshop!

Still got it, busted and logo barely visible, as well as the iphone, with those Cave games installed.

Ohhhh! I have that one too, it resides in my Cave coffee mug also from their webshop. Don't have the iPhone that it covered any more, but I rocked that case for a couple years. I *did* have an iPad on a pre-64-bit iOS version, with the whole set of Cave iOS games (which was actually the main reason I even initially bought an iPad), but it had a battery swell and break the case and I trashed it instead of looking to repair.

I don't think my most ridiculous thing is necessarily stupid, because I do love it, but the wildest thing in my collection of STG stuff is my complete CD set of Cave official soundtracks. Which I define as every numbered "CVxx-0xx" release, including reprints (for example, Mushihimesama OST was CVST-0002 and got a later reprint with its own number, CVST-0014). 49 CDs, I think. To go with that, all of the official Cave superplay DVDs (CODV-000x) and art books (CVOB-000x).

My collection doesn't include all of the later 2010s Cave releases when they moved to number format 01-00xx, but those are mostly Gothic wa Mahou Otome discs (and they made so many lol), along with a small handful of reprints of older OSTs where I have the original CVST- releases. I do have a few Gomaotsu discs and the Matsumoto Selection DJ mix (01-0002). Also plenty of Cave OSTs published by other labels like SuperSweep, Scitron, stuff like the soundtracks that came with limited edition game releases (M2, Limited Run, the 360 Espgaluda II LE pack-in OST, etc.), all of the INH Insanity superplay DVDs...

Pictured here, with the phone case and mug (pay no mind to the Toaplan corner on the right side of the bottom shelf lol):


Oh! The boxes on the bottom left probably qualify too. New Astro City cab models, from Wave Corporation: https://www.hobby-wave.com/en/products/gm027/. Comes with stickers and art for three Cave games - DOJ, Ketsui, and Mushihimesame - so I bought three of the models! Only took one out and built it though, the other two are chilling on my Cave shelf untouched.

[hamfighterx]

I entered the Evercade eco-system and got straight back out again.

Same, I had pretty much everything up until the beginning of this year, but when the new arcade carts were announced as more stuff I mostly had on Switch......

I'm definitely starving for interesting new arcade titles already. I mean I will keep playing Donut Dodo and Batsugun, but apart from Shocktroopers on the NG1 cart there isn't much I really want to play left to buy.

I've been pretty into Evercade since getting one of the Street Fighter edition Evercade Alpha bartop machines last year (Merry Christmas, me). Then I got a decent deal on the Mega Man one too and figured hey I'll swap out the stick and buttons for some good Sanwa stuff and have a second one (why? IDK). But yeah I've been playing them a lot, most days I'll do at least a credit or two of something. The arcade format is where it's at though, I wouldn't care much if playing on one of the Evercade portables or the console.

Mostly I play the purple box "arcade" releases - Data East, Toaplan, Taito, etc. But I've found a handful of other carts that also have stuff that works well for an arcade format:
- Just last night I was playing Sol-Deace (Genesis/MD) from the Renovation Collection 1 on the Alpha. I like that game, and it felt perfectly at home in the arcade-style setup. Cart also has Gaiares (also feels great on the bartop), Granada, and Final Zone.
- Hell yeah to Donut Dodo (on the Indie Heroes Collection 3), bought that cart solely for that game.
- I'm not too embarrassed to admit I picked up the Jaleco Collection 1 (the console one, not the Jaleco Arcade Collection 1) so I could play Brawl Brothers and Rival Turf on the bartop. Yes, I know that's ridiculous. Earth Defense Force (SNES) and the NES City Connection and Astyanax are on there too, and they aren't bad.

One miss: I enjoy Xeno Crisis as a game, and had a chance to play the Neo Geo version at an arcade which gave me the idea that I'd like to play it on my little bartop. So I picked up the Evercade one. But it turns out the controls are pretty awkward with a stick and 6-button Street Fighter layout, so that really decreases my enjoyment. It's more fun to play on one of the portable Evercade machines, or I prefer the Switch version.

If anyone missed the Irem Arcade Collection 1, it was hard to find for a while but must have just had a reprint because I'm seeing copies of that around for cheap. Great release, with R-Type, In the Hunt, Mr. Heli, Lightning Swords...

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

I've been pretty into Evercade since getting one of the Street Fighter edition Evercade Alpha bartop machines last year (Merry Christmas, me). Then I got a decent deal on the Mega Man one too and figured hey I'll swap out the stick and buttons for some good Sanwa stuff and have a second one (why? IDK).

I've heard someone express their regret that two Alphas can't be linked via cable for VS-sessions, and I totally agree, including a two player option via linked Alphas would have been the bomb.

Mostly I play the purple box "arcade" releases - Data East, Toaplan, Taito, etc. But I've found a handful of other carts that also have stuff that works well for an arcade format:
- Just last night I was playing Sol-Deace (Genesis/MD) from the Renovation Collection 1 on the Alpha. I like that game, and it felt perfectly at home in the arcade-style setup. Cart also has Gaiares (also feels great on the bartop), Granada, and Final Zone.
- Hell yeah to Donut Dodo (on the Indie Heroes Collection 3), bought that cart solely for that game.
- I'm not too embarrassed to admit I picked up the Jaleco Collection 1 (the console one, not the Jaleco Arcade Collection 1) so I could play Brawl Brothers and Rival Turf on the bartop. Yes, I know that's ridiculous. Earth Defense Force (SNES) and the NES City Connection and Astyanax are on there too, and they aren't bad.

Thanks for the recommendations man!

One miss: I enjoy Xeno Crisis as a game, and had a chance to play the Neo Geo version at an arcade which gave me the idea that I'd like to play it on my little bartop. So I picked up the Evercade one. But it turns out the controls are pretty awkward with a stick and 6-button Street Fighter layout, so that really decreases my enjoyment. It's more fun to play on one of the portable Evercade machines, or I prefer the Switch version.

You can change the controls to the classic "hold shot button to keep pointing in the same direction while shooting and walking in all directions" in the options. The one thing that pisses me off (and I'm sounding like abroken record here) is that you have to let go of the shot button to do a dodge roll. Stupid decision.

If anyone missed the Irem Arcade Collection 1, it was hard to find for a while but must have just had a reprint because I'm seeing copies of that around for cheap. Great release, with R-Type, In the Hunt, Mr. Heli, Lightning Swords...

Look, man, I just bought a house and a cinema screen, I can't afford buying more nice shit...

[Gamer707b]

The Gradius V Superplay DVD. Only to realize it’s just a video of a standard 1cc that I’ve achieved 15 years earlier myself. Not sure what the point of the DVD is since the game is a fairly easy shmup

I think the DVD you're talking about was a promo that may of come with the game back when the game came out. Don't forget, back then there wasn't all these super play videos on the game. Still would be cool to have as a collectible.

[Gamer707b]

My biggest stupidest purchases come to mind is spending $250.00 on a U.S copy of R Type Delta. Also $200.00 on Einhander. Thankfully most of my other games I bought years ago when they weren't that stupid of a purchase.